The No. 15 Auburn Tigers turned a sour first half into a monster second-half performance en route to its fourth win of the season.
Auburn shot 56% from the field and picked up 11 points from [autotag]Chris Moore[/autotag] in the second half as Auburn defeated Texas Southern on Friday night, 72-56 at Neville Arena.
Texas Southern outshot Auburn 43% to 35% in the first half, and took advantage of Auburn’s turnovers by scoring 14 points off of 11 cough-ups. Despite Auburn’s struggles in the first half, they would enter the locker room with a 29-27 lead.
Auburn’s shooting woes struck again in the first half of Friday’s game, as the Tigers shot 11-of-31 from the field, and 3-of-15 from beyond the arc. [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] led in scoring with eight points each. Johnson made three baskets while Williams recorded three rebounds and went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line in the first half.
Auburn opened the second half by posting a 14-2 run, which allowed them to jump out to a 10-point lead at the 14:56 mark in the half, 43-33. Tempers flared shortly before the timeout, as Texas Southern’s Zytarious Mortle committed a flagrant foul on Johnson. The foul appeared to be committed out of frustration, as Texas Southern players showed emotion towards Auburn’s bench following the foul.
Chris Moore had a phenomenal second half, as he shot 100% from the field, three-point territory, and from the stripe en route to an 11-point half, and a 14-point night. Overall, Johnson led with 16 points, followed by Williams’ 14-point outing.
Next up for Auburn is a date with Bradley at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico. Tipoff between the Tigers and Braves is set for Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT.
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